The North Carolina Writers’ Network 2012 Spring Conference will be held in the Elliott University Center at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.The annual event, co-sponsored by UNC-Greensboro’s creative writing program, draws writers from across North Carolina and beyond for workshops in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, children’s writing, and publishing, led by distinguished writing faculty. This year’s conference will also feature a Publishers Panel with book and journal editors; a Faculty Reading; an Open Mike reading for conference attendees; and “Lunch with an Author,” where attendees share lunch and personal conversation with faculty members.

The keynote address will feature representatives from an exciting new web-based project titled “A Literary Map of North Carolina.” A collaborative project between UNC-Greensboro and the North Carolina Center for the Book, the NC Literary Map is a database-driven, searchable/browseable, multi-level, multi-media online research tool to foster interest in North Carolina’s rich literary tradition. Guests can search by author or genre, or just browse the map to find authors who have lived in or written about North Carolina. Scheduled to be officially launched in the fall, visitors can catch a sneak peak at www.library.uncg.edu/dp/nclitmap.

Course offerings at the 2012 Spring Conference include two all-day workshops, one on fiction led by Alan Michael Parker, and a nonfiction intensive led by Randall Kenan; a half-day fiction workshop with Mylène Dressler; and poetry workshops by Janice Fuller and Rebecca Black. Registrants can also attend “Breaking into Children’s Publishing” with Megan Bryant, classes in “Accounting for Writers” and “Guerrilla Tactics for Authors,” and creative nonfiction workshops led by Justin Catanoso and Paul Bogard.

The nonprofit North Carolina Writers’ Network is the state’s oldest and largest literary arts services organization devoted to writers at all stages of development.